UK court throws out Google libel

The UK High Court has thrown out a libel action being brought against Google over comments posted on a blog on the grounds that there was no jurisdiction to try the claim.

Former Conservative councillor Payam Tamiz launched his complaint after allegedly defamatory comments were posted on a blog written about him. Google contended that it was not a publisher for the purposes of the English law of defamation and therefore there were no grounds to bring the claim.

Mr Justice Eady agreed saying that Google was not regarded by the court as a publisher under the established principles of the common law. Google claimed that it had no way of knowing whether the comments complained of were true or not and that it could not be reasonably be expected to investigate and determine the truth or falsity of allegations made by bloggers.